


History

by Jacqueline Albright-Beckett (xaandria)



Series: Give Me _____ [2]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Gen, interludes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-20
Updated: 2014-03-20
Packaged: 2018-01-16 09:03:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1340743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xaandria/pseuds/Jacqueline%20Albright-Beckett
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Interludes that never made it into What I Need.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Change in the Wind

**Author's Note:**

> In [What I Need](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1101454/chapters/2215596), we follow the surgical technologist Dean as he navigates through his infatuation with the vascular surgeon Dr. Novak. Each month is separated by a short interlude that sheds some light on Dean's or Dr. Novak's history. There are several interludes I wrote that didn't make the cut, but I think they contributed enough to Dean's character that I'd like to share them.

The front steps of the house were icy, despite their best efforts to salt them. Dean took special care as he maneuvered his box through the doorway, setting it down with relief in the living room amongst the dozens of others.

"I never want to move again," Jess said fervently as she followed him with a box of her own. Her cheeks looked to be red with heat rather than the cold winter air, and she held her hair away from her neck as if attempting to cool herself.

"Hopefully you won't have to," Dean observed. "I mean - that was the point, right?"

Jess smiled wearily. "Yeah. It was." She looked around as she sank down to sit on one of the boxes. "It's hard to believe it's ours."

The conversation faltered at that point; Dean looked down at his hands awkwardly. He could count the times he'd spent alone with his brother's girlfriend on one hand. She was an astoundingly pleasant person, but though he'd been living with them for six months - first in California and now here in Kansas - there was still none of that easy familiarity for him to fall back on. He'd never had the knack for lasting friendships. He'd never needed it.

"So you and Sam think you'll stay here in Kansas?" he asked, more to break the silence than anything.

Jess nodded. "For a few years, anyway. We'll see what happens after he finishes med school, but..." she looked around as though she could survey the landscape through the walls. "I like it here. I know we've only been here a few months, but...I could see myself being happy here." She looked abruptly at Dean. "What about you?"

Dean had been dreading the question. "I haven't the foggiest," he admitted, guilt kindling in his chest. "I..."

And there it was, that sour twist as he realized that he'd followed his brother halfway across the country simply because someone had pointed and told him where to go. And he was here now - had been for months - doing nothing more than existing. There was no one pointing the way here, no one tugging his reins or setting his feet on a path.

For the first time, his life was his - and every opportunity to do something with it seemed as distant as the moon, the paths to reach those opportunities unfathomable.

"I should..." Dean swallowed. "Get a job, I guess. That's the first step. Only I don't..." He shook his head. Dad had always been good at ferreting out the work that would pay discreetly in cash at the end of every day. Dean didn't know the first place to begin looking. And as he looked down at his feet on the white carpet, in his brother's house, he suddenly loathed the idea of bringing that sort of money home.

He looked up. "Do you know how I'd go about getting my GED?"


	2. Flashcards

Torture. That's what this was. It was pure torture.

"Tell me," Jess said wheedlingly, "and I'll give you a jelly bean."

"It's a forceps," Dean said, eyes still closed.

"What kind?"

"Fuck if I know." Dean reached up to rub his temples. "They all look the same."

Jess turned the flash card to glance at the picture. "See the teeth? It's an Adson."

Dean made an indelicate noise into his hands as he drew them over his face. "This is stupid. Who calls them that?"

"Every surgeon I've ever worked with," Jess said lightly. "Every set you'll ever use will have at least one Adson in it. Do you know why?"

"I bet you'll tell me," Dean said wearily.

Jess shot a glare at him that let him know his petulance was not amusing. "It's good for gripping skin. They'll use it for skin closure." She shuffled through the cards and drew out a new one. "How about this one?"

"Hemostat," Dean grunted.

"Which one?" she pressed.

Heaving a sigh, Dean reached out to grab the card. "Crile."

With a grin, Jess reached into the bag in her lap and tossed him a lime green jelly bean. "How's it different from a Kelly?"

"The serrations. They go all the way to the boxlock." Dean snatched the cherry jelly bean out of the air before it could hit him in the face.

"Okay. Rapid fire."

Dean rubbed his face vigorously. "Okay. Let's do this." He blinked hard, settling his focus on the flash cards in Jess's hands. "Backhaus. Kocher. Senn. Ragnell. Weitlaner. V...V-something. Volkmann! Knife handle - number three knife handle." He squinted. "Debakey? Are those Debakeys?" Apparently, because Jess flipped to the next card. "Jesus fuck, what the hell is that?"

Jess turned the card over and winced. "Oh. That's the Auvard speculum. Have you not seen these yet? Are you doing GYN instruments?"

"OB/GYN is next chapter," Dean said, reaching forward to pluck the card from Jess's hand to study. "Good lord. That thing is terrifying."

"What thing is terrifying?"

Dean held up the card as Sam walked into the living room balancing three plates of food. Sam stared blankly at the card. "So...what is it?"

"It holds the vagina open," Jess said matter-of-factly. "The bulb there weighs about eight pounds to retract the posterior wall using gravity."

Dean was fairly certain his expression of horror mimicked his brother's. "Jess? I love you, but your profession kinda freaks me out," Sam said slowly as he sank onto the couch. "Dean, I'd say get out while you still can."


	3. Soaring Triumph

The polyester gown was insufferably hot, and the seam of the matching cap rubbed against Dean’s forehead and itched furiously. Dean noticed neither of these things as he took his place at the edge of the stage.

“Dean Winchester, Associate of the Sciences, Surgical Technology.”

His cheeks hurt, stretched as they were with a wide smile that he was unable to hold back as the dean of the college handed him the cheap leatherette folder and shook his hand. A camera flashed and then he was down the stairs on the other side of the stage, and one of his instructors flung her arms about him; she had to stand on her tiptoes to do it, and in her exuberance knocked her glasses askew.

“I’m so proud of you, Dean,” she said as she drew back, eyes shining.

“You’re proud of all of us,” he said, trying to make it sound dismissive and failing.

“Yes, but especially you.” She patted his cheek fondly as he continued down the line of instructors, each of whom had a kind word or a hug or handshake, and all of whom beamed at him.

The ceremony had been alphabetical, and with Grace Zhu it concluded with the turning of the tassels atop their caps and the farewell to the graduates. Head still spinning with the strange detachment and soaring triumph of closing a chapter of his life, Dean made his way to his car, only to be tackled from behind as he fumbled under his robe for his keys.

“Dean,” Sam said, face split in a grin that rivaled anything Dean had ever seen on his brother’s face. He looked as though he were trying to come up with more words, but failed.

“I know,” Dean said, shaking his head in disbelief. His tassel wobbled on one side as though to remind him it was still there. Without warning, Dean threw his arms around Sam and squeezed. “Wouldn’t’ve made it without you,” he said, voice muffled by Sam’s shoulder, the words thick in his throat.

“Sure you would’ve,” Sam said, returning the hug.

“No. I’d still be God knows where. I’m here because of you. You and Jess. I -” Dean paused to take a deep breath, alarmed at the heated pinpricks at the corners of his eyes. “I don’t know how to thank you,” he said finally.

“Then let’s just go get food. I’m starving.”

“Food,” Dean agreed, unzipping the front of the gown. He carelessly tossed it into the backseat, but paused for a moment, carefully unwinding the tassel from the top of the mortarboard and hanging it from the rearview mirror. It swung there gently, and Dean nodded.

A little immature, perhaps, but it was the first time he’d ever graduated from anything. He deserved a little overt pride.


End file.
